0012 東

東

TŌ or higashi, dōng in Chinese, means ‘east.’

It represents the rising sun

日

shining at the horizon, under the tops of trees, in the east.

木 .

京

KYŌ, jīng in Chinese, means ‘capital city.’ Perhaps you see where this is going. It’s derived from a kanji which pictures a raised pavilion, a space under roof, on pillars. The idea is ‘high, lofty, central,’ and thus ‘capital city.’

If you put the first and last kanji together you get

東京,

Tōkyō, the eastern capital. East of the older capital, Kyōto, at least.